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Fatty Liver? Carbohydrates Might Be The Culprit

April 13, 2017 By: Brandon Bennett 123

Have you ever had foie gras? It’s a French delicacy made by force-feeding a duck or a goose to give it a fatty liver and give that liver a unique flavor. Pretty shocking stuff. But what do they feed the animals to produce this fatty liver? Fat, right? Nope! Sugar, corn and starch.

So when your doctor tells you that you need to reduce the amount of fat in your diet and replace it with carbohydrates, may the alarm bells ring loudly in your head. Here’s why. Research shows that carbs—and NOT FAT—cause a buildup of fat in your belly and liver. Bad news. And pretty counter-intuitive.

But what actually happens is that sugar switches on a fat-production factory in your liver: a process called lipogenesis. It’s your body’s first response to sugar, particularly fructose. Yes, fructose is the most detrimental type of sugar for your fatty liver. It heads straight for your liver, when the lipogenesis kicks in immediately. Are you consuming a lot of fructose?

Condiments, salad dressings and sauces, including reduced-fat French dressing and balsamic vinaigrette

Dried fruits: raisins, dates and figs

Canned fruit, jellies and jams

Sweet Asian sauces, including teriyaki sauce

Honey, maple syrup and agave syrup

Brandy and liqueurs

Fatty liver is now the most common liver disease and the leading cause of liver transplant, too. And it can lead to the sort of inflammation that can trigger insulin resistance, pre-diabetes and visceral fat (where fat builds up around your organs and middle).

But that’s not the only type of havoc excess sugar and starch can create in your body: you might be saying hello to high triglycerides, low HDL (that’s the “good” cholesterol), high bad cholesterol (yes, LDL), and a higher chance of heart attack.

Signs Of Fatty Liver

This is quite disturbing: most people have absolutely no idea they have a fatty liver.

The possible signs and symptoms include:

Abdominal swelling

Enlarged breasts in men

Enlarged spleen

Red palms

Enlarged blood vessels just beneath the skin

Fatigue

Yellowing of the skin and eyes (jaundice)

Dietary Fat And Fatty Liver

But cool: dietary fat doesn’t trigger insulin secretion in the pancreas (unless you combine it with carbs—which spells disaster). When you eat the right types of fat, you can increase your metabolism wonderfully, stimulate fat burning beautifully and decrease hunger pangs big time.

The Fat You Need

So here’s what to do:

Increase the amount of coconut or medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) oil in your diet.

Cut processed carbs of all kinds, and whole grains (if cold turkey is very challenging, try consuming small amounts of millet, quinoa and buckwheat while you transition)

Consume lots of fiber-rich, low-carb vegetables, like leafy greens

This may sound strange. The truth is that the government tells us to limit saturated fat to 7-10% of all calories consumed. And the whole grains! The truth is that healthy saturated fats lower inflammation when you eat them as part of a low-carb, omega-3 rich, high fiber plan.

The Early Tell Alls

Watch out for the early signs that may be associated with a fatty liver, including:

Cravings for carbohydrates

A little belly fat

Eating lots of sugar and/or flour

You can also get a blood test or an ultrasound, which can both pick up the disease. An ultrasound is more sensitive and likely to detect it.

Reversal and Prevention

If you’re worried about getting fatty liver, or you already have it and would like to improve the situation, here are the key strategies you’ll want to employ:

Choose protein

Fill up on nuts, seeds, eggs, fish, chicken and grass-fed meat. Integrate about a palm-sized serving of these foods into every meal, especially your first meal of the day.

Start a liver-repair plan

Eat detoxifying foods like broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussel sprouts; pack in around 1-2 cups of leafy greens like cabbage, arugula, watercress, kale and collards every day. Try increasing your garlic and onion consumption, too! Their natural sulfur content helps you flush out liver toxins. Beets and carrots are also nice.

Supplement yourself

Healing is optimized when your body is getting everything it needs to transform you into a healthier version of yourself. Some helpful liver-supporting supplements include

This is the last but most important point here. If you do anything, eliminate the sugar! Say chau to high-fructose corn syrup, most significantly. Tell starches you no longer need their services, that you choose health, want more energy and are on the road to bullet-proof wellness.

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About Brandon Bennett

Brandon Bennett is the owner of Grapefruit Wellness, a health coaching and mentoring company.

As a Certified Nutritional Psychology Coach, he works with clients on the mind-body connection; with an emphasis on the role nutrition plays in creating balance between the two. Brandon is also a one-on-one Yoga Instructor.

Prior to coaching, he worked in professional sports for close to 10 years as a Premium Sales Consultant, with his most recent team being the Dallas Cowboys.